WATCH: Legal expert slams FBI whistleblower program, claims it's 'broken'

Jenny Goldsberry

October 01, 04:38 PM October 01, 04:38 PM

A lawyer representing whistleblower Steven Friend, a 12-year veteran special agent who was fired by the FBI on Monday, went on the record Saturday to rail against the FBI's program meant to protect whistleblowers.

Dan Meyer, who is a co-counsel for Friend, criticized the program for being "long and drawn out." Meyer also mentioned he had personally advised members of Congress in the past when they were writing laws to protect whistleblowers such as Friend. The former special agent was fired as a result of his published revelations in which he claimed that the bureau had changed how it categorized Jan. 6 defendant cases so it would appear as if domestic terrorism had increased.

"We thought they were great rules, and on paper, they are," Meyer said of the laws during a television interview. "The problem is the functionaries within the FBI."

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Meyer claimed to have a client in a similar situation who made an accurate disclosure, per the Inspector General at the time, but has been in a legal battle for five years.

"The FBI whistleblower program is broken, which is why Congress needs to be involved directly because Congress is the entity that can fix that," Meyer said.

Rather than placing all Jan. 6 cases with the bureau's field office in Washington, it has apparently assigned each case to the field office of each defendant's home state, according to Friend, who reported to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH). As a result, the FBI has hundreds of domestic terrorism cases opened across the country.

Meyer also confirmed that Inspector General for the Department of Justice Michael Horowitz and special counsel for the U.S. Office of Special Counsel Henry Kerner had received Friend's allegations.

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"[Whistleblowers] like Steven have to be really, really courageous and if — because remember if you have a spouse and children and a family, and you're midway in your career — that’s an incredible burden on your shoulders for the benefit of the American public," Meyer said. "And that's why whistleblowers are heroes and heroines."